Jordan 193
The Jordan 193 was a Formula One car, raced by the Jordan Grand Prix team in the 1993 Formula One season. After the team's disastrous 1992 season, in which they scored only a solitary point, and that in the final race, the team took the decision to replace the unreliable and underpowered Yamaha V12 engines. A contract was signed to use Hart's smaller, but under-funded, V10 engines. The car differed greatly to its predecessors, with a higher nose and very different front wing. Like most of the cars that competed in the 1993 season, the 193 had numerous electronic aids to assist the driver and improve the car's performance. Traction control was used throughout the season, as was the team's first semi-automatic gearbox. The gearbox caused numerous problems, as it often would jam in one gear. This occurred so much at the beginning of the season that the team replaced the semi automatic gearbox with a manual one until the semi was reliable enough to race. The car also lacked the active suspension used by the frontrunners and had too short a wheelbase, which caused instability in the rear for most of the year but was later lengthened in an attempt to find more speed. The net result was that the Jordan 193 was usually over 3 seconds per lap slower than the fastest cars, but was still a competent midfield runner. No fewer than six drivers raced the car throughout the season, with only young rookie Rubens Barrichello competing in every race. Ivan Capelli, Thierry Boutsen, Marco Apicella, Emanuele Naspetti and Eddie Irvine all raced at some stage of the season. None of the drivers except Irvine were able to match Barrichello's pace. Boutsen, who drove the most races of the second drivers, was often around two seconds per lap slower than Barrichello. Initially the performance of the car was encouraging but it lacked reliability in the first eight starts and only managed one finish, a lowly 10th. However, Barrichello had come close to scoring a podium in the wet at the European Grand Prix. Having run near the points for the whole race, Rubens looked set for third when the car ran out of fuel in the dying stages. Despite heavy revisions to the car throughout the year – such as improved aerodynamics, altered suspension, and more powerful Hart engines – its relative performance stayed roughly the same throughout the year. The one bright spot occurred at the Japanese Grand Prix, where first-timer Eddie Irvine topped a practice session before both drivers drove brilliantly in the race to finish 5th and 6th, scoring the team's only points of the year. Irvine's debut made headlines when irate winner Ayrton Senna punched the Northern Irishman, who had unlapped himself during the race. Although the team was officially classified as equal tenth in the Constructors' Championship with three points, had the car been reliable the team could have finished in sixth place with around the same number of points as they had scored in their debut season. The 193 was replaced for the 1994 Formula One season by the 194. Category:Jordan Racing Category:Post-war Category:Modern Category:Formula 1 Cars Category:Racecars